Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:1271-1276
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
Familial schizophrenia and treatment response
JM Silverman, RC Mohs, M Davidson, MF Losonczy, RS Keefe, JC Breitner, JE Sorokin and KL Davis
Psychiatry Service, Bronx VA Medical Center, NY 10468.
Thirty-nine patients with chronic schizophrenia for whom hospitalization
was clinically indicated received haloperidol for 4 to 6 weeks in a
standardized dose schedule. Responders were compared with nonresponders for
family history, baseline symptom factors, and ventricle-brain ratio (VBR).
The lifetime risk for schizophrenia spectrum disorders was higher among
first-degree relatives of nonresponders than among first-degree relatives
of responders. Treatment responders had higher baseline scores on the
factors of activation and hostile-suspiciousness, but the groups did not
differ in any other baseline symptom factor or in VBR. The authors suggest
that there is an association between failure to respond to drugs and
genetic loading for schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
